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Which font is suitable for my text?

1 November 2014

Meirav Barsadeh

The body of the text is the most substantial part of my content composition. It must be sufficiently present mustn't stand out. It should prevent distractions yet contribute to the composition.

When we choose fonts for the body of the text, we should ask ourselves: does this font-family include enough styles (for example, italic or bold)?

Is the font suitable for the environment in which the text will "live"? Will the readers find the font comfortable and enticing?

 

Furthermore, we must remember that a good body of text takes into consideration three aspects:

 

Shape

Fonts that are designed for use in the body of the text should be easily and comfortably readable even in small sizes. It is recommended to search for fonts with as few 'curves' as possible. A unique design is a distracter and in small sizes may lose its uniqueness.

 

A balanced color value

Fonts with a uniform balanced color value assist the reader focus on the text itself. It is recommended to avoid using fonts with uneven coloring such as crowded spots of black/white or dots.

 

Texture

Texture means the visual aspects of the chunk of text. The texture is a result of the thickness of the line, the height of the line, the division of white space inside and around the letter and the space between them. A good texture is not too boring and not too energetic. 'Energetic' textures make the reading exhausting since they attract too much attention and boring textures make the reading difficult since they don't help our eyes create a sufficient inspection of the shapes. Achieving a good texture means finding the balance between these different aspects.

 

Each text, with its content in mind, deserves a re-evaluation concerning its shape, color value and texture with regard to its required resolution, the device in which it will be presented, etc. Shapes that look good in a low resolution may look clumsy in high resolutions; color and texture that seem legit in a Macintosh cannot convey the same message on an Android screen, etc.

 

Test yourselves: check if the fonts you've chosen fit these criteria.

I wish you good luck.

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